Keeping the memory alive
by JM RAMOS
Summary: The first full-length Gangster Squad fanfic and first crossover fic with TNT's Southland. What started as a simple meeting in 2010 turns into a life-changing moment for a fan of the LAPD who sends copies of the Paul Lieberman book about the Gangster Squad as inspiration to his LAPD friends. Team fic/AU (historical). Review
1. Prologue

KEEPING THE MEMORY ALIVE

JM RAMOS

As this is the first full length Gangster Squad fanfic and the first ever crossover with TNT's Southland (note: I do not own them but have my own characters) I'm doing this, as a citizen of a city that is one of the sister cities of Los Angeles, CA., USA, as a way of utmost gratitude to all policemen and women for the hard work and sacrifice they do to serve the people and protect them from all forms of criminal activity. I'm truly proud to have seen them both. By the way I also read the Paul Lieberman book about the squad and how it all started in fall of 1946. I'm also paying tribute to the legendary TV series, Dragnet, whose first movie in 1954 featured the Gangster Squad helping Jack Webb (Joe Friday) solve a mob case with his partner, Ben Alexander (Frank Smith). Hope you review, this is only just the start of it.

In the immediate aftermath of the Chris Dorner shootings and the manhunt that followed, this is dedicated to all California policemen and women in the different police agencies that risked all to arrest this killer for good, and in memory of the fallen police officers who died in the manhunt last February 2013.

PROLOGUE

_OUTSKIRTS OF PHILADELPHIA, PA. _

_JANUARY 12, 2013_

_1400 HRS_

This is the city… Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of an independent America. It was here, on the 4th of July, 1776, that representatives of the 13 colonies under British rule, after a year and several months of full blown war, declared the birth of the independent United States of America, and proof of this is the Declaration of Independence.

Years before that, the city founded what is now the oldest US municipal police force. Today, with more than six thousand in service the Philadelphia Police Department is one of the best police forces in the East Coast, living truly to its motto of "Honor, Integrity, Service", and one teenage boy is proud of them. I'm John and I'm a student officer in a nearby college and a NROTC member, having finished the winter semester. I've expected that one of 2013's first films would be a big favorite for me and that movie is... Gangster Squad. It debuted just days after my birthday and I was expecting it to be a great one, and I was not disappointed.

As Gangster Squad debuted in cinemas in the US that week, as a young adult at 19 I watched it at the local cinema and knew that it was one of the best films of the year just begun. In anticipation, I brought a copy of the Paul Lieberman book about the squad and brought 10 more during the previous year, one to be sent to the Police Commissioner, Charles Ramsey and the rest intended to be sent to LA via airmail: 4 to the Los Angeles Police Department's new headquarters building south of City Hall, each for the Chief of Police, Charles Beck, the Commissioners Board, the Office of Operations and the Special Operations Office, that copy to be sent directly to the Gang and Narcotics Division (the note for that is also attached to the said copy), 1 to a West Bureau detective, 1 to a former member of the Gang and Narcotics Division, 2 copies each to 2 Hollywood Division cops and one to a cop in the Alvarado Division, all with attached letters and a photocopy of the picture I took with the cast in 2011 and a small photocopy of the poster with signatures from the cast, which I received during the holidays plus copies of the letters I received from David Wooters, Bert Phelps, Kathleen Irvine, Maureen O'Mara Stevens and from the last survivor of the original squad, Conwell Keeler, who died on January 31, 2012 at the age of 97, after having seen the shootings and met the cast and crew in person, which are at my stepfamily residence within the suburbs. Added to them are copies of the letters to me by the cast and movie producer Ruben Fleischer thanking me for dropping by. And since I met the family of the late Jack Webb in several occasions even before the shooting began, I brough another copy just for them in the New Year and am attaching the same letters, since they also wrote a letter to me, one of the new fans of his shows, most especially Dragnet, after one of my visits to the family residence straight from the shooting of the movie, and I've started to make copies of it as well and will add that to the said copy since the original stays in my home. I still remember the time that I met the Webbs in their house last summer and it was a great moment, telling them how I saw the shooting and met the cast and crew personally, and even meeting Keeler in the process. I know how much Jack helped many Americans fight the many threats and problems they faced as a people and as one united nation in the many Dragnet radio and TV episodes he made.

And who are those 5 LAPD personnel that I'll send the book to?

Last summer, I met them all while off duty at the new HQ south of City Hall during a weekend. These were Lydia Adams, a detective of the West Bureau, Police Officer 3+1 John Cooper and PO2 Ben Sherman, both formerly from the Hollywood Division as a team (the latter now working in the Alvarado Division), PO3 Sammy Bryant, now with the Alvarado Division after a stint in the GND, and PO3 Bill "Dewey" Dudek, also from the Hollywood Division. It was my fourth meeting with them for the year, having met them first in 2010 right before shooting commenced on Gangster Squad. I told them that the movie will be ready by January 2013, almost a year after the death of the last survivor of the original squad of 8 raised on October 4,1946, since the movie had to be reshot due to the events at Colorado so I told them how I was able to meet the cast and crew a year ago for the first time, and my subsequent visits afterwards as a high school student in Long Beach back then, as the city is within my reach, before moving to the Delaware Valley in 2012 to finish high school.

Adams answered: "You lucky boy. How did you do it?" I responded: "As a fan of Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin, having watched their movies before. By the way, I like Emma Stone since Crazy, Stupid, Love and I love the tandem between her and Ryan so that's why I'm excited for it. I'm also a Sean Penn fan too. And soon enough I'll be a reserve officer in the Gang and Narcotics Division or at the 77th St. Division, having full knowledge of it since I read some books about crime in the City of Angels and have watched the Dragnet movies and the TV series starring Jack Webb and its later editions. But my heart is with the GND." Sammy, Cooper, Ben and Dewey were shocked at it, the former, before his patrol duty, had served with the division before joining the patrol branch in the year before.

Sammy told me: "You're joining my former unit because of watching this?" "Yes, I'm planning to be a detective there" was my answer and Cooper responded: "You better be safe and remember my advice to stay focused, okay? And just be always ready to risk your life doing it." I nodded in response and answered, "I'll be ready for it". Sammy told me afterwards, "I worked there and got my pal killed, but I hope you stay strong if you join the GND." I said to him, "Bryan, I'm gonna get ready for this job and hope you inspire me, okay?" And he nodded. And I told them after looking at them, "But if I can't join Sammy's former unit I'll be happy to help you guys". They were absolutely happy at it and Dewey told me: "Well we at the LAPD will be proud to have you in our ranks." "Thanks, Dewey. And I'll be happy to wear that badge." "You're welcome", he said in response. Ben added, "Just look sharp, stay sharp, and be sharp just as we do." I answered, "I will, guys". Cooper told me if I met Officer Jessica Tang just recently, and I said yes, and told them that she's active now in her new assignment, and I miss being a friend of her, whom I regard as a mentor. I miss being with her a lot lately. To Cooper, Ben and Sammy I also said that I also miss Officer Danny Ferguson as well as a mentor and friend to me. He's doing well in his division lately as a great officer.

Sam told me later of the history of his former unit and of how he met John "Jack" O'Mara, Gerald Wooters (Jerry is his nickname) and several of the Gangster Squad veterans when he was young. I was impressed indeed, and I told him that Keeler had died early in the year. Sam said, "So sad. I met him a few times when I was young." "Same for me, Bryan. You indeed had close links to them, and years ago, when I was in high school, I met him too, and last year was my last visit to see him, while the movie was being shot. You indeed had a great stint with that division, and his advice to me is to always be down the line like he did... and to stay focused and dedicated to my duty when I take that blue uniform or my coat and tie and the badge, risking all even at the point of death, to live by the LAPD motto, "To protect and to serve", till the last moment of my life." And upon hearing it he burst into tears. I asked them what's the reason and he responded that it reminded him of Nate Moretta, his former partner in the said division, who was killed in the line of duty in 2011 and I responded, also in tears, that I met them before in the summer of 2010, not knowing that it would be the one of the few moments I had with him. And afterwards I told them all that Paul Lieberman's 2008 series of columns for the Los Angeles Times about the Gangster Squad were being made into a book due for a August release. Adams answered, " Will you give me and the boys a copy?" I said yes. Good thing PO3 Chickie Brown, Dewey's former partner and now working with the Metropolitan Division, came by to say hi and asked what all the talk is about. My response is that I'm talking about my experiences with the Gangster Squad cast and crew just last year. Lydia told me about my trip to see them and I added that several of the sons and daughters of the real-life squad members and even Con Keeler himself wrote letters to me about meeting the cast, who would later send me letters and so too was Ruben Fleischer, the executive producer and director, on behalf of the crew, and so too did Jack Webb's family. Cooper asked who he was and I answered, "He's Joe Friday from Dragnet, remember?" He replied that his parents were fans of the show (both 50s and 60s versions) and also of another of his TV shows he conceptualized, Adam-12, and his dad liked Officers Reed and Malloy, as they were his favorites. Dewey and Sherman said likewise, their parents were fans of both shows.

After several minutes I had to leave for home for snacks, so I told them that I'll deliver a copy of the book to them plus Charles Beck, the Operations Office and the Special Operations Office, with orders to send said copy directly to the GNB, with letters attached to them, plus another one to the Webbs. After that I bid farewell, happy for a new experience I had with them. It was only the beginning to a destiny to keep the memory of the LAPD's Gangster Squad, founded in the midst of the threats of the American Mafia after the Second World War, alive in the hearts of all Americans and all the people of the world, and to use it to destroy the threat of organized crime all over the globe, in the eternal memory of all victims of gang violence everywhere, in the way that the late Jack Webb would have wanted to.

The next day... I recieved a letter from Nate's widow Mariella thanking me for having been with the family in those trying and sad times, and for those visits made after going to the Gangster Squad set which now ended my grief over losing a great friend. I've been waiting for that for months after the visits to the Gangster Squad set and my first visit to the Moretta residence that December of 2011. Attached to it was a picture of me, Sammy and Nate from Christmas of 2010 with Nate's kids (Mariella pictured us all that day). As I entered the residence Nate's kids gave me the letter, since she was away. It was a great moment and for the first time in my life I did not cry. I felt that I was not mourning Nate's loss... but remembering the few times I had with him and Sammy.

And that afternoon I returned to the Police Administrative Building to inform Chief Beck about the letter that Mariella wrote days ago. He replied, "Indeed, you have recovered well from the devastating loss of Nate Moretta last year." I thanked him for that response. At the same time someone arrived at the Chief's office: Sammy's former supervisor, Detective Daniel "Sal" Salinger, from the Gang and Narcotics Division, LAPD, and I told him about the letter. He replied, "You have finally recovered, and your strength has returned. I hope, John, that the legacy and memory of my former friend Nate Moretta live on in you as long as you live." I answered, "I will, sir." Sal and I went outside only to see the same personnel from the LAPD to meet me, all with their shifts finished for the day, and I told them about the said letter. I showed that to Sammy, and he cried when seeing the picture attached to the letter. Then he said, "You... you've finally recovered, bud?" I nodded in response and said, "Sammy... thanks for everything and hope I've had helped you rise from the depths of losing a great friend like Nate. I truly miss him well." Cooper, Sherman, Dewey and Lydia (plus Chickie who was late) all looked at me and were extremely thankful for my full recovery after a year of hard times. Sherman and Cooper then approached me and looking at the picture, were shocked. Cooper then asked me, "Have you been with them before?" "Yes", I replied. I was not crying that day, for I was finally full of happiness and relief. I had finally showed a happy face to all of them that afternoon. And Sherman then said "So that's the picture of Sammy and Nate and his kids with you?" I answered yes and told him that now I know that he's already gone and I'm only gonna remember the great times I had with those two. Coop and Ben smiled with happiness and I said, "You two are the reason I've recovered from losing Nate, and for me you're both heroes, the modern day Reed and Malloy." Cooper replied that they surely are those heroes and told me afterwards that I've finally healed the wounds of losing a great mentor. Ben added that it's gonna be hard being a cop like them or a detective like Lydia, but knowing to serve the ones you love is worth doing it for life. Before I left I told them that I'll add that letter to my collection and make copies of it to be attached to the copies of the Gangster Squad book that I'll send next year.

Those were my thoughts after watching the movie and reading my copy of the book again that day. As I arrived back home, I made the letters at last and made photocopies of the letters. I had my pictures with the cast which were on my FB and on my computer, copied to pieces of paper to be attached to the letters. When I slept afterwards, I had my copy of the book to lie with me as always. I indeed had a great sleep that night, ready for a new day ahead for me. It was indeed cold that night in the Delaware Valley. Very cold.


	2. Chapter 1

(Note: I'll use the positive aspects of the squad and the many reasons they turned the city's reputation to a positive one in my chapters, no bad words are used as well.)

CHAPTER 1

_JANUARY 13, 2013_

_WAYNE, PENN._

_8:00 AM_

I woke up this morning charged more than ever before. Thanks to watching the movie Gangster Squad and reading the Paul Lieberman book "Gangster Squad: The True Story of the Battle for Los Angeles" (also known originally as "Tales from the Gangster Squad: Covert Cops, the Mob, and the Battle for Los Angeles) I felt motivated… but this time to make my mark in breaking apart the local Mafia units in the Delaware Valley, inspired by what Los Angeles did before.

Wayne, part of the wider Radnor Township in Delaware County in Pennsylvania, is where I live today with my relatives, as my family lives in Philadelphia itself. I study in nearby Villanova University for a computer engineering course with plans to join the Philadelphia Police for a year as a reservist so that I can move to either LA or San Diego and their respective police forces as a reserve police officer after a few years as a US Navy civilian IT technician or as a naval air crew or flight officer, just like what the late Jerry Wooters did, or even as a Master-at Arms or a bandsman playing percussion. I'm also considering joining the LAPD as a reserve police officer while being a competitive diver full time. After taking breakfast, I went to my room to continue the letters. My uncle called me and asked me if I fixed my room and I said yes.

As I wrote them, I couldn't help but remember the dreams that I had following my purchase of the Paul Lieberman book and watching the Gangster Squad movie just this month, and imagine myself, as a veteran's grandson, in the same place and era as the Gangster Squad of the Los Angeles Police Department… this time with the new friends that I've met from about almost 3 years ago…. and now I thought of a story out of these. I'll never ever forget those times that I met those new friends from the West Coast, for all my life I've dedicated myself to live there before moving to the Delaware Valley. And I can't also forget the times that I met Sammy and his late partner Nate Moretta in several occasions, and I last met them in the New Year of 2011, before Nate died. When I received word of it via the Internet it shocked me so much, I cried for days after learning the news of his sudden death at the performance of his duty. I truly had lost a friend and comrade, and my grief and mourning prompted me to transfer to a Philadelphia high school after finishing the 10th grade to be more close to the family as I can, only to recover during the visits to the Gangster Squad set and my first holiday visits to the Moretta residence that December as I began to celebrate Christmas.

When I first met the two I was an eighth-grader in the a LA high school after a three year stay in middle school in Long Beach and on vacation in the summer of 2010 with my West Coast pals right before Memorial Day weekend. I met them at the new HQ south of City Hall while leaving and I introduced myself and my pals to them. I asked them, "What are your names?" They then introduced themselves, Sammy first and then Nate. They told me that they are LAPD detectives with the Gang and Narcotics Division, and Daniel Salinger, Sal as they call him, is their boss. Their job is to help enforce law and order and stop the gang and drugs threats on the City of Angels. I then introduced myself: "Sammy, Nate, I'm John Ramos here, your new buddy." Then it was the turn of my friends, and both of them were happy that we were here meeting them for the first time. It was indeed a life changing moment.

Here are those condensed dreams as follows: (Note that these will take up to several chapters)

DECEMBER 5, 1947

LONG BEACH NAVAL SHIPYARD, LONG BEACH, GREATER LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

2:00 PM

This is the city… Los Angeles, California. One of the great cities of the American nation. For many years this city has become one of America's biggest, and serves as the hub of the global film industry. It also has great places to work, live, dine and relax. Just every part of this city is full of people, and its getting full of the holiday spirit. Christmas is nearing fast, and in this city there are people whose involvement in the Second World War, both in Europe and the Pacific, make them truly deserve of being sons and daughters of the city, either native born or immigrants from other countries and from various parts of the US. I'm part of them, and I live here. I'm a master-at-arms with the United States Navy Reserve at the Naval Air Station Point Mugu and formerly at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, today ending 4 great years of service with one of the world's great navies. This morning I left NAS Point Mugu for the last time, and now I'm at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, were I worked for 2 years and a month, to say my final farewell to all those who were with me during those years of work.

I'm John Ramos, and today as I finish my duties as part of the US Naval Reserve for a year and 2 months after 4 years and 2 months of great active service, having started as a MP with the Philadelphia Shipyard in July of 1942 after high school graduation at 18 (having been born in 1923 to a Spanish-American family in San Francisco and later moved to the East Coast with them), only to transfer to the Long Beach Shipyard in September of 1944 due to news of the Pacific actions and also due to a letter of transfer stating my desire to serve in the West Coast as I feel that the European war will be over in several months due to the successful operations in the Low Countries that will push the Germans out and back into their homeland.

In my job at the Philly yards I helped the construction of several US naval vessels and helped enforce order in the shipyard, helping the workers do their duty during my off-duty hours in effect saving many lives in the process. After the move to Long Beach, aside from my usual duties as a master-at-arms, I also had a hand in rallying the peoples of Greater LA to support the US forces in the Pacific, as well as working with the Los Angeles Port Police and the Los Angeles Police Department in protecting the peoples of the city from criminal elements in cooperation with the other area police agencies. In September of 1946 I informed the shipyard commander via a letter for permission to move to the Navy Reserve for the postwar period and for my discharge from active service, having been awarded with few medals as a MP. It was approved and I was discharged from active duty on October 2, 1946. 2 days later, as news of another wave of gangster killings hit the LA papers that day I formally joined the US Naval Reserve as part of my full transition to civilian duty. As several of my relatives live there I began to work as a car repairman, working in a car repair shop meters away from LA City Hall, but still report to the shipyard as part of my reserve obligations and later I moved to Naval Air Station Point Mugu to finish my term. Since City Hall was also then the headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department I went there in several occasions that fall to update myself on the activities of the force and as a navy reservist coordinated myself with the LAPD in security matters especially during the holidays alongside the various Greater LA police forces. Even though I was now stationed at NAS Point Mugu, I was a reservist on duty at the shipyards as a MP and worker until February of 1947 when I finally moved duty to the US naval air base to prepare for my final months as a reservist but still stayed in LA, working in a repair shop in the day just near the airbase. In April of that year, I then informed the base commander that at year end I was finally completing my transition to civilian life, and he wrote a letter to the USNR unit commander on the matter just as I suggested him to do. The offer was approved and I was getting ready to end my reserve duties in several months.

It was during my days in the shipyard that I discovered Los Angeles for myself. It was a big city indeed, with so many people living and working. It has great places to shop, dine, stroll or even watch a movie or see the stars in person.

On November 16 I received word via the papers of an extraordinary operation by several LAPD personnel the previous day. They arrested six Midwestern men at the Wilshire Boulevard on attempted robbery charges, and the team was led by LT William Burns and SGT John J. O'Mara. When I saw the news I finally said to myself, "Los Angeles has its protectors against the rising threat of organized crime, and this is only the beginning of a long and hard struggle to wipe out these elements from our nation." When I read the news at NAS Point Mugu never I was full of joy. I finally knew that at long last the LAPD formed a special unit dedicated to fighting the Mob in the City of Angels, for I was told of that matter in December of 1946, during one of my visits to the LAPD offices. And since I was a naval reservist I decided to meet the heroes of that operation the next day at City Hall.

That's when I had my first meeting with the LAPD's Gangster Squad, as the police officers called the unit.

I met Chief Clarence Horrall at his City Hall office that day to ask if it was a success and he replied, "It indeed was!" And I asked him, "Can I talk to the men of that operation, sir?" He said yes. I asked them further about their offices and I was told that they have been at Central Station for several months now. He then introduced me to Joe Reed, his assistant chief for operations and asked him to take me to see the men. And when I saw them… I was in for a surprise. I never met them before, but now I was face to face with the people of the LAPD's newest special operations unit.

Reed then told me, "John…. Here is the Gangster Squad. Lieutenant Burns please greet him politely."

"Hi."

"What's your name, sir?"

"I'm William Burns, United States Marine Corps, Retired, now a Lieutenant, Los Angeles Police Department. I am in charge of that unit that conducted the operation two days ago, and we call ourselves the Gangster Squad. What's yours?"

"I'm John Ramos, with the United States Navy Reserve. So how's the job?"

"Great. We're here to conduct operations against the threat of gangsters in Los Angeles." I then asked him who are the gangsters they were chasing after, and he replied that the gangsters that they were asked to fight were tough and strong. Several of them were Italians, others, like gangster boss Mickey Cohen, now no.1 in the crime family after the death of his mentor Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel that June, were born Americans first and foremost, and most moved to LA in the decades before. Cohen was born in New York, the cradle of the Mob in the US. And speaking of Italians, Burns introduced me to the lone Italian in the unit, Lindo Giacopuzzi, Jaco to his pals. He said, "Hi. Call me Jaco, mister." I responded with a Buon Giorno, Italian for Hello.

"How's the job today?"

"Good, mister. I did surveillance jobs today, boy."

I then asked him to introduce me to John O'Mara. "Hi, John. Call me Jack", he said.

"Hi, Mr. O'Mara", I responded. "How's the day?"

"Good, John."

He then told me that he served in the Coast Guard during the war, and I responded by stating my duty as an active US Navy Reserve master at arms and I've just finished my active service last year, and was preparing to wrap up my reserve service in December. He was in his 30s and joined the LAPD in 1940, and his family was formerly from Oregon, and he's married with his wife Connie. They have been a couple for 7 years now.

He then introduced me to several of his fellow personnel. Dick Hendricks was his companion at the 77th Street Division when the unit was being formed in '46. James Douglas Kennard from Texas, called Jumbo by his buddies, was one of the founding members of the unit, and one of the taller ones. He has a brother, Max, one of the veteran detectives in his police force in Texas who joined the LAPD before the war as part of the detective bureau, only to follow his brother to join the Gangster Squad just 2 months before, bringing his buddy and protégé Navidad Ramirez with him, and he's a proficient user of the pistol. Mr. Ramirez was one of the pioneer Hispanic officers in the detective bureau when he joined during the war, and is a native Angelino himself. Benny Williams joined the service in the mid 20s to enforce Prohibition and he's a veteran officer from Chicago, and was an aspiring football player before joining the LAPD. Archie Case, "the Mayor of Watts", was a great shooter, and once helped shot a man whom he was arresting in the butt. Jerry "The Professor" Thomas was great at photographic memorization among his fellow servicemen in the squad. Jerry Greeley, a veteran Navy officer in the surface branch, was as tall as Jumbo but as smart as the rest of the squad put together. Then there was Conwell Keeler from Iowa, a former US Army Air Forces aircrew and the squad's bug man with expertise in electronics and in repairing television sets as an electronics engineer, and he runs a shop at his residence when off-duty. He was the one that led the squad's operation to bug the TV set at the Cohen residence at 513 Moreno Avenue in Brentwood that April. And one of the newest members of the squad was Coleman Harris from the Central Division, formerly from the same unit as Case before moving there in 1946. A rising police officer in his own right (and one of the pioneer blacks in LAPD service), he was tasked to secure the bars and other hangouts of LA's African American community in addition to his usual patrol duties there. He joined them that March, before the big bugging operation. And I asked Burns if all of them are expert users of the Thompson submachine gun, he replied that all are using it and while most of them are veteran shooters using the Tommy and a few do not use them, several of the squad members are being trained to be expert gunners.

I told Burns, "Well, it's time for me to go. I'll be home tonight for dinner, guys". He responded," It was a pleasure meeting us, and I hope to see you again soon." And before I left I asked him if the Squad had a new secretary working with them, and he said yes. That secretary was Sally Scott, former employee of the Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C. during the war, and had top secret clearance. She became an assistant to Keeler and truly of big help to the growing unit.

I bid farewell to them and when out, only to meet a couple of LAPD personnel outside, all off duty save for 2 in the Hollywood Division, who reported to the chief that day. And I told them, "Hey, everyone, I met the Gangster Squad today. By the way, I'm John."

Everyone was shocked!

No one responded, and later a tall white man wearing his LAPD blue uniform with his partner came to me asking who I was. "My name's John Ramos, and who are you?"

"Police Officer 2 John Cooper, joined the LAPD in 1942, just as the war was going on. I graduated in the Police Academy in the middle of 1942, and today I just been promoted to PO3, sir." He introduced me to his buddy and former FTO, now Police Sgt. Gary Harrison also from the Hollywood Division, and joined the LAPD in 1940, right before the war, as a regular policeman. He was a tall guy like Coop, but not much taller. His siblings were military servicemen during the war. Afterwards I congratulated him on his promotion and hoped for the best from him. He then said, "Thanks. By the way, who did you meet today?" I answered, "The LAPD's own Gangster Squad led by Lieutenant Willy Burns, Mr. Cooper. The ones that did the operation two days ago."

He then asked me about their mission and I replied that it's their duty to arrest the growing Mafia problem in Los Angeles and to stop their actions that might affect even the LAPD's functions. Even though they're cops, they act and function like the gangsters they're chasing after so that they would be brought to justice.

Before I left he said, "Hey John, hope I understood what you said about them, and thanks again for the greetings on my promotion. Will you join me soon?" I answered, "Yes, but I also plan to be a reserve police officer. All the best for you, buddy!" He smiled at me before I left City Hall. This was indeed my first time meeting with the Gangster Squad.

And now, today, as I leave the shipyards where I worked during the war, I feel a sense of mixed sadness, joy, relief and.. most of all, memories as I was finally ready for civilian life and soon to join the ranks of Los Angeles's police force. I feel like missing the people that I worked with during the war. As I bid farewell to them, I leave memories of happy and sad times shared in the service of the nation and its people. I will never ever forget those times.

5:00 PM

I've finally left the shipyards to move to my new home in a relative's residence near City Hall. Sad as I am, I am now in a new stage in my life as a civilian, and by tomorrow, I'll be resting to prepare for work as a repairman to raise funds for my college enrollment under the GI Bill and to prepare to meet the Squad members as well as getting to know Mr. Cooper himself. It's barely cold, and I know that Christmas in on the horizon. I knew that I made the right choice to end my military career, right at the start of the holiday season. Good thing my family was there all the way from Philadelphia to celebrate my retirement from military service, and they would be always happy of what I've done for the nation. They are surely proud of what I've changed and what I contributed to the victory of the Allied nations in the war against Germany and Japan... a war in which I was truly proud to fight on.


End file.
